Saturday Night
I turned to see that damn Petra, racing towards me. Her left arm was stretched out to the side; she was intending to scoop me onto her Honda as she rode past.
I had no choice but to accept. The only alternative was injury, death or worse!
..._...
"Thanks!" I called as I swung up behind Petra and she accelerated away from the scene as bullets whizzed past. I also heard a large explosion as the explosive charges on Jackal's motorcycle exploded.
Petra kept up a high speed as she zigged and zagged around any traffic, in the thankfully almost clear streets of the, mostly sleeping, City.
I lost track of where we were heading and just had to trust Petra.
Finally, we stopped in some woods, near a river to the west of the City.
"Where the hell am I?" I whispered into my comms.
"White Eagle Woods South, Hit Girl!" Battle Guy responded.
"You get carried away, my love?" Kick-Ass asked.
"Just come and get me, asshole!" I growled into my comms.
The asshole was laughing; I would never live this down!
..._...
We stood facing each other for what felt like hours, but was only minutes.
Finally, Petra broke the silence.
"I wish I could have arrived sooner, to help you."
"I had no need for your help, Petra!"
"Temper, Hit Girl!" Kick-Ass said in my ear.
Asshole!
To tell you the truth I felt uncomfortable, us standing here not talking. It even felt ridiculous. Here we were, two vigilantes, in armoured combat suits, standing in a wood, in the dark, beside a powerful motorcycle!
"You fought well," Petra said.
"I always do," I replied.
I gazed at the Honda Fireblade.
"Mine's faster!" I commented.
"Speed isn't everything!" Petra replied.
Another long pause.
"What do you carry?" I asked, trying to make conversation.
"Beretta Px4 Storm Compact in nine-millimetre," Petra said, drawing on of her two identical pistols.
The bitch seemed to know her weapons.
"Glock 26 in .40-calibre," I said with a smirk as I drew one of my own.
"Size isn't everything!" Petra replied.
Jeez!
If they had been men, they would have been seeing who could pee the furthest! I pulled up, in Beast, and stopped alongside the Fireblade. I climbed down and walked over to the two girls.
"Enjoying yourself, ladies?" I asked.
"Petra, meet my sarcastic partner, Kick-Ass!" I growled, glaring at Kick-Ass.
"My lady!" Kick-Ass said, with a nod to Petra.
"Kick-Ass!" Petra replied, in her electronically enhanced voice that was eerily similar to that which Kick-Ass used.
The three of us stood there, no conversation for several minutes.
"So – you think you're a vigilante, do you?" Hit Girl asked.
"So, you want to fight?" Petra asked, without hesitation.
"Yeah, let's see what you can do!" Hit Girl responded enthusiastically.
..._...
This should be good, I thought! I always enjoyed watching two girls fighting – it could be one hell of a turn on! Josh would be very annoyed to miss this. Then I had another thought.
"Battle Guy, you recording this?" I asked over a discrete channel.
"Hell yeah – in full HD!"
The two vigilantes were standing in front of Beast, which meant that Battle Guy could use the onboard High Definition cameras to record the ensuing fight. They started circling each other. Neither had a weapon out, but I knew that Hit Girl did not need weapons - she was a weapon! I had a distinct feeling that Petra could hold her own, too. I had seen her in action before, but not in a full-blown fight like this promised to be.
..._...
Petra got in the first hit; on Hit Girl's left thigh with her right leg. Hit Girl absorbed the kick and dealt one of her own back, catching Petra on the left shoulder. Neither girl was making much effort at avoiding the other, neither were they hurting each other. They were just warming up and testing each other. I could hear crunching over the comms.
"You got fucking popcorn, asshole?" I asked Battle Guy.
"Hal just finished making some – this should be one hell of a show! Want some?"
"Funny!" I retorted with a chuckle.
..._...
The strikes were now getting harder and faster. The girls were now actively trying to avoid each other's strikes. Things were speeding up as the girls span around the grassy ground. They seemed evenly matched, which was a surprise considering Hit Girl's obvious decade or more of experience as a vigilante.
The sound of carbon-fibre armour clashing against carbon-fibre armour, punctuated the fight. I hoped that Hit Girl was not going to take this 'friendly' fight too far! I knew how that girl hated to be beaten. Petra was a friend; not an enemy and I hoped that Hit Girl would remember that!
Oh, fuck!
Hit Girl just put Petra down hard on the ground. I saw my fiancée smile across at me, before she was toppled to the ground as her legs were swept out from under her.
Hey, cat fight!
Both girls were now rolling around the ground, each trying to get the better of the other.
"Fucking turn on or what?" Battle Guy asked.
"Disgusting twat!" Hal cut in. "Awesome though…"
I chuckled.
..._...
Currently, Hit Girl was pinned, but then I saw her right leg snake upwards and around the front of Petra's neck and Petra was thrown backwards. Then Hit Girl was on top and pinning the new vigilante to the ground. Damn, I never thought seeing Hit Girl fight could be so fucking hot! Petra was desperately trying to free herself, but Hit Girl obviously thought that she had her pinned completely – well almost…
Petra managed to get purchase on the ground and forced her body to one side; she was then able to throw Hit Girl off and onto the ground. Hit Girl's body language told me that she was really pissed and I sensed trouble.
Oh, crap!
Hit Girl drew her Katana swords, in one smooth motion, and her movement was mirrored a split second later by Petra. Hit Girl's upper lip curled and she flew forwards. The blades clashed as they fended off each other's advances.
This really was monumental!
I was also starting to get a little concerned that this could end up with one of them getting hurt – or worse!
The blades clashed and the vigilantes whirled around as they fought. I was pleased that the two of them had different colours to their armoured suits – it made it easier to follow who was who with the high speed movements. I was not sure, but I thought that both girls were not striking as hard as they were capable of striking. I knew that Hit Girl could fight harder than this – but it was good; it meant that neither was trying to kill the other!
Finally, the spinning vigilantes started to slow down – they must have been exhausted. Then two minutes later, they both stopped. Both were breathing heavily and I saw Hit Girl smirk.
"Now that was one hell of a work out!" Hit Girl exclaimed.
"Hell, yeah!" Petra replied.
"May I?" Hit Girl asked, looking at Petra's swords.
"Of course – may I?"
The two vigilantes exchanged swords and examined each other's blades. I watched as Hit Girl moved Petra's blades through the air, examining their movement and balance. Petra was doing the same with Hit Girl's blades. I had never seen Hit Girl let anybody touch her blades before, ever!
"Err, Hit Girl – should I wait for you two to make out, or..."
Two heads whipped around and I felt two pairs of eyes boring into me.
"Just kidding!"
Hit Girl turned back to Petra and they returned each other's swords, which were stowed on their backs.
"I look forward to working with you again!" Hit Girl said, holding out her gauntleted hand.
"Me too, Hit Girl," Petra replied taking the outstretched hand and shaking it, then she mounted her motorcycle, started he engine and accelerated away.
Safehouse F
When we got back to the Safehouse, we heard cheering from the Command Centre. I laughed when I saw what was displayed on the fifty-inch wall-mounted screen. It was 'the fight'. Josh and Chloe were cheering - Chloe for Hit Girl and Josh for Petra!
I saw Mindy start to blush.
"You recorded this?" Mindy asked turning to me.
"Seemed a good idea…" I saw Mindy's expression. "At the time… damn you were fucking hot!"
Mindy opened her mouth to respond, but then shut it again.
"I do look good, don't I?" Mindy conceded.
I had to admit that I had been very impressed by Petra that night.
Yeah, I could have flattened her! No doubt about it, but it would have been a challenge; she was good! The main question in my mind was: where did she learn her skills? I also had other questions, but that was the main one. I would tolerate her for now – admittedly I had no choice as she just seemed to turn up, without warning!
That night
West Ridge
I was in my pyjamas and ready for bed when I heard a gentle knock on the door.
I looked up at the small screen that showed an image of the area in front of the front door. What the hell? I opened the door.
"What are you doing here?"
"I need to talk to you," Megan said, coming in.
I shut the door and followed Megan into the living room, where she sat down. I sensed that something was wrong. Dave appeared, saw Megan and frowned. I just shook my head and Dave took the hint and headed upstairs with a curious Sophia.
..._...
"You have my attention!"
"I spoke with Marcus, last night..."
"Oh – I see. You are worried about what he thinks about you, now that you have 'notches' on your belt?" I asked.
Megan scowled.
"I've been there, Megan," I said and sat down beside Megan and put my arm around the girl's shoulders. "Marcus hates what I do, he always has. Now his new daughter wants to follow the same path and has already killed people!"
"Will he hate me – he says he won't, but..."
"No, Marcus would never hate you Megan. Marcus loves me and I know that he loves you, too. He may not like what we do, but that will never change the way that he feels about either one of us."
Megan thought about this for a minute before responding.
"Am I an abomination?"
"Where the hell did you get that word from?"
"Heard it – looked it up... Am I damaged? Am I psychotic? What is wrong with me?"
"Wow there, girl! Where the hell did all that come from?" I asked. I was a little shocked by what was coming out of Megan's mouth – which was a fairly normal state of affairs, but this was different.
"Last weekend... The killing in the warehouse... I enjoyed it!" Megan said, looking horrified. "Tell me that's normal, for fuck's sake!"
"For us – it's normal. For other people – not so much!" I replied. "You are special young girl, Megan. Shit things happened to your Mom and you; but you didn't let it dictate your life – you just got on with it. Admittedly vandalising cars might not have been the best choice, but you could have made a worse decision."
"True," Megan acknowledged.
"You have a few crap years ahead of you; I'm not going to lie to you about that."
"Whatya mean?"
"Puberty sucks big time, all on its own – especially for a girl. Not to mention trying to be a vigilante at the same time! Puberty hit me later than most; I was almost thirteen. It also made me more of a bitch than I already was! Ask Dave; I actually bit him once!" I said, chuckling. "I think he still has a scar on his arm."
Megan looked a little shocked at my mention of biting Dave.
"Puberty does crap things with your mind. I had Dave to help me, as Marcus was beyond useless! You have your Mom, me, Chloe and even Curtis!"
Megan glared when I mentioned Curtis, but she also went a little pink at the sound of his name.
"So I'm normal for who I am?" Megan asked.
"Yeah... That just about sums it up. Now, tell me about Curtis!"
Megan said nothing, but just went a nice shade of pink.
"I see – it's like that is it!"
"No!"
"He kissed you again, yet?
"No!"
"You want him to kiss you again?"
"N – Yes!" Megan admitted, blushing red now.
"Try kissing him back, instead of slapping him," I suggested with an evil smirk.
"Funny bitch!"
..._...
My cell rang – it was Marcus.
"You got mini-Mindy over there?" Marcus asked with a chuckle.
"You are so not funny, old man!" I growled. "Yes, Megan is here – she needed to talk with her big sister!"
"You keeping her for the night then, big sister?"
"You staying here, tonight?" I asked Megan, who nodded enthusiastically.
"Looks like it!"
"Okay! Night Mindy!"
"Night Marcus!"